Qatar v Switzerland: Muheim Own Goal Hands Qatar Historic World Cup Point

• Miro Muheim’s own goal four minutes into stoppage time gave Qatar a 1-1 draw with Switzerland in their Group B opener at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium.
• Breel Embolo had given Switzerland the lead from the penalty spot in the 17th minute after goalkeeper Mahmoud Abunada fouled Remo Freuler.
• Switzerland had 26 shots but were unable to convert their dominance into a winning goal, leaving Murat Yakin’s side to rue their lack of a clinical edge.

Switzerland Pay the Price for Wastefulness as Qatar Snatch Late Draw

Qatar earned their first World Cup point on foreign soil as substitute Miro Muheim headed a Homam Ahmed cross past his own goalkeeper four minutes into stoppage time, gifting the 2022 hosts a dramatic 1-1 draw with Switzerland in the San Francisco Bay Area sunshine. Breel Embolo’s first-half penalty had looked set to be enough for Murat Yakin’s side, but 26 shots and only one goal told the story of an afternoon the Swiss will struggle to forget.

The match at the 69,000-capacity venue, home of the San Francisco 49ers, got underway with a number of empty seats visible in the stands. It followed pictures from the South Korea versus Czechia fixture in Guadalajara that appeared to show thousands of unoccupied seats, though FIFA insisted the official attendance figure was accurate and stressed that several ticketed fans had been seen standing in concourses rather than staying in their assigned seats.

Qatar, managed by former Spain boss Julen Lopetegui, almost took a shock lead in the second minute when Edmilson Junior won possession after a slip by Inter Milan defender Manuel Akanji and ran clear on goal. The winger’s shot was too close to Gregor Kobel, however, and the Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper saved comfortably.

From that point Switzerland seized control. Nottingham Forest forward Dan Ndoye saw a low effort saved by Abunada before sending another first-time shot over the crossbar. The penalty arrived when Remo Freuler latched on to a downward header from Embolo and was clattered by Abunada, who needed treatment after the challenge. Following a lengthy delay and a VAR check for offside, Rennes frontman Embolo kept his composure to send Abunada the wrong way from the spot.

Switzerland continued to pour forward. Abunada produced a fine reaction save from Ruben Vargas at his near post, and Ndoye could have had a first-half hat trick on another day. Michel Aebischer’s shot was cleared off the goal line just before the interval, and the Swiss went into the break wondering how they held only a one-goal advantage.

The second half was a more subdued affair. Captain Granit Xhaka sent a long-range effort over the bar early in the period, but with the California heat unrelenting, the tempo dropped as the next hydration break approached. Ricardo Rodriguez and Xhaka, appearing in their fourth World Cup finals tournament, made Swiss history by recording their joint-record 13th appearance on the global stage, though neither could spark the breakthrough their team needed.

With 15 minutes remaining Embolo shot into the side-netting and substitute Johan Manzambi fired narrowly wide, and it felt as though each miss was drawing Qatar closer to a moment they had scarcely earned on the balance of play. That moment arrived in the 94th minute. Left-back Homam Ahmed overlapped down the flank and delivered a deep cross into the box. Boualem Khoukhi, Qatar’s captain, charged toward the ball at the back post. Muheim, the Swiss substitute, got there first but could only head the ball past his own goalkeeper Kobel. The Qatar bench erupted.

Despite Switzerland’s supremacy across the 90 minutes, it was Abunada who was named Player of the Match. The goalkeeper’s early foul had conceded the penalty, but his saves from Vargas and Ndoye ensured Qatar were still within touching distance when the late chance arrived.

Yakin could not hide his frustration at the missed opportunities. “We have nothing to reproach ourselves for in terms of the way we played. If you look at the statistics, we had 26 shots today but we only ended up warming up the goalkeeper. I think we need to work on our precision and our belief. The way we played was exactly how I’d imagined it. We got into good positions, made good runs and created good chances, but in the end we weren’t clinical enough. Those are things that have always been our strengths but of course the opposition knew that too,” Yakin said.

Lopetegui, by contrast, was overjoyed with his players’ resilience. “I am very proud of the team,” the Spaniard said. “I told them that even if we hadn’t scored the goal and didn’t draw I would have been proud of the mentality and discipline that they showed today. But fortunately we scored and that was history. We were a little bit lucky sometimes but you need to believe and work to have a little bit of luck in life and in sport. So we are very happy for the players.”

The result left all four teams in Group B level on one point apiece after Canada and Bosnia and Herzegovina also drew 1-1 in Toronto a day earlier. Switzerland remain unbeaten in their last seven World Cup opening matches but will feel this was two points dropped rather than one gained. Qatar, who lost all three group games as hosts in 2022, will carry the momentum of their first World Cup point into the remaining fixtures with renewed belief that a place in the knockout rounds is within reach.

WRITTEN BY

Jarrod

Jarrod Partridge is the Founder of Futbol Chronicle and an accredited journalist with over 30 years of experience following international football. A member of the AIPS International Sports Press Association, Jarrod has covered matches at stadiums around the world, bringing first-hand insight to every match report, player profile, and tactical analysis he writes.

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